Dystopian Fiction: Essential Reading

A dystopia — a oppressive, totalitarian, or otherwise undesirable society — represents an end as well, an end to the type of society we have envisioned and tried to create in the so-called real world. In that sense, dystopias represent a type of apocalypse, an end of the world as we know it. (Here’s a longer analysis of the differences among the sub-genres.)

I will be listing individual books with notes, but to get started, here are the most essential dystopian reads. It represents a cross-section of types of dystopias aimed at children, teens, and adult readers. If you’ve never tried this genre, this a good place to start.